Curran, N.Y. High School Basketball Coach Win Leader, Dies at 82

By Mason Levinson -
Mar 15, 2013

Jack Curran, the Archbishop Molloy
High School basketball and baseball coach for 55 years whose
lineups included National Basketball Association players Kenny Smith and Kenny Anderson, has died. He was 82.

Curran died in his sleep yesterday morning, the school,
based in the Briarwood section of Queens, New York, said in a
news release on its website, without citing the cause of death.
He had been weakened by lung and kidney problems, undergoing
dialysis three days a week in recent years, though he rarely
missed practice or games, the Associated Press reported.

Curran won 2,680 games in the two sports, more victories
than any other coach in New York high school history, the school
said.

“Coach Curran built a legacy that transcends any
traditional notion of coaching high school athletics,” Richard
Karsten, the school’s president, said in a statement. “To him
it was always about the kids. They were the reason for his
success. His passing will not only be felt by today’s students,
faculty and staff, but generations going back over 50 years.”

Curran grew up in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx, New
York, played baseball at St. John’s University and then
professionally in the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies
organizations.

After a back injury ended his career, he applied for the
Archbishop Molloy coaching jobs in 1958 when Lou Carnesecca left
to become basketball coach at St. John’s.

Curran posted a 1,708-523 record coaching the varsity
baseball team, winning 17 Catholic High School Athletic
Association titles. His varsity basketball teams went 972-437,
claiming five league championships. He was chosen the league’s
coach of the year 25 times in baseball and 22 in basketball.

‘Greatest Treasures’

“He’s won everything except World War III,” Carnesecca
said, according to the New York Times in 2008. “No one in the
country has Jack’s record in both sports, no one. And along the
way, he has become more than just a great coach, he has become
one of the greatest treasures of New York City.”

NBA players to play under Curran included Smith, Anderson,
Kevin Joyce and Brian Winters. Current New York Mets outfielder
Mike Baxter was among Curran’s baseball players.

“I lost my favorite coach, mentor and just a great soul
Jack Curran you will be missed, I will have you in my thoughts
everyday I live Thank U,” Anderson said in a Twitter post today.

Smith, also on Twitter, called Curran “one of the most
influential men in my life!”